Hans Grodotzki (born 4 April 1936 in

Preußisch Holland Preußisch is the German language adjective for "Prussian". Preußisch may refer to: ;Places in Germany *Preußisch Oldendorf, town in North Rhine-Westphalia ;Places outside of Germany *Preußisch Eylau, now Bagrationovsk, Russia *Preußisch F ...

) was an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competed mainly in track events. He competed for the United Team of Germany in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

where he won the silver medal. In the

5,000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

he repeated this, winning a second silver medal.

Biography

Hans Grodotzki was born in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, now Poland. The war ended in May 1945 and Grodotzki, accompanying his parents and two siblings, was obliged by frontier changes and ethnic cleaning to relocate. The family ended up living in

Menteroda Menteroda is a village and a former municipality in the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district of Thuringia, Germany. On 1 January 2023 it became part of the municipality Unstruttal. History Within the German Empire (1870-1918), Menteroda was part of t ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, in the southern part of the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

in what remained of Germany. After leaving school Grodotzki worked as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

in the Volkenroda

Potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.

mines, also playing, in his free time,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

. He began

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

training in 1954 after being "talent spotted". While he was 20 he was called up for his military service, and in 1956 he was sent to the Army Sports Association centre at

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. A period of intensive training under Erich Bock ensued. Already, 1956 he took the East German 5,000 meter junior record (14:18,0). He was moved to Berlin in 1958, where he was trained by Curt Eins, and within half a year he was a member of the East Germany national team.

References

1936 births Living people People from Pasłęk Sportspeople from East Prussia Sportspeople from Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship German male long-distance runners East German male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for the United Team of Germany Olympic silver medalists for the United Team of Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics University of Potsdam alumni National People's Army sportspeople Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub